The Cat
by LEM
Summary: A feline shapeshifter prowls New York at night and discovers all sorts including the X-men.
1. Chapter 1

The Cat

**The Cat**

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns the X-world and all those who are members of that world. The Cat is mine. This is just for fun not for profit so no harm, no foul._

Chapter 1: Introduction

I am The Cat; not Catwoman, or Catgirl or even The Pussy Cat Doll. Just The Cat. I am not a Cathy or Katherine or any or those type of names that would use Cat as a nickname. What my human name is not revenant to this story; however if you must know, I just might just tell you later on. Or maybe I won't.

I am a shapeshifter. I can shift at will into any feline form and not lose my human mind, plus I can still speak. I am not a were-feline who can only shift at certain times of the year and only into one form (i.e. werewolves). Those poor shifters loose their humanity while in animal form and create all sort of havoc. Once they shift back to human form they have no memory of what they did while in animal form. I remember what I did or did not do. Nor am I a mutant who can shift from form to form.

I was not cursed to be a shifter, I was born to it. Both my parents were shifters, from a long line of shifters and from the time I was a child I have been able to change my form to any member of the cat family. By the time I was a teen, I discovered that I could partly shift so that I would look like Bast, a cat headed woman who also had a cat tail and claws on her fingers and toes. From what my parents told me I am a very rare type of shifter. There is only one every century or so that could do the partial shift.

When I shift I can be as small as the Asian fishing cat or as large as a Bengal Tiger or a Liger, half Tiger half Lion. As I am a woman, no matter what feline form I am in I will be a female. I found that prowling the streets of the city in my favorite shape, a Maine Coon Cat, I could see and listen in to all sorts of happenings. In my human form, my job is that of a free lance reporter. I have printed several stories where no one can figure out how I got my information. When asked for proof I can provide it, as I wear a collar/necklace that has a voice activated micro digital camcorder that can record for hours, hidden in it. In human or Bast form it looks like a necklace, in cat form large or small it looks like a collar. The Bast necklace has been past down from the Egyptian times to the ones that can shift to the Bast form. I added the camcorder to the necklace.

So far the only time I have ever been in trouble when I was on the prowl, was when I ran into a pack of feral dogs. I was on the trail of a famous singer who was slumming around the bad part of town. She had ditched her babysitters and the photo-geeks by climbing out a little window in the back of this sleazy club. No one thought she would do it. I sort of lucked out as I had gone around back to sneak into the club by the same window. I followed her to this crack house about 3 blocks from the club when all of a sudden these dogs started to chase me. They chased me into a blind alley and I was trapped, but I turned the tails on those dogs. I shifted to the Bengal and chased the dogs back out of the alley into the street, freaking out several hookers and their johns. By morning there were cops and animal control combing the area looking for the tiger. By noon, the tiger was forgotten as I had turned in my story to one of the TV stations about the celebrity in the crack house being arrested when one of the cops looking for the tiger stumbled over her in the crack house.

I have seen all sorts of things that have gone on in this city and every once in a while I will step in and help out some poor jane or joe who has gotten themselves in a tight fix. Now don't get me wrong even though I have the ability I am no super-hero. I have seen the real deal.

One night I saw two feral men fight it out on the top Lady Liberty herself. The smaller dark hair man had these foot long metal claws that came jutting out of his hands, three to each hand. Boy, those things were sharp; they cut through the metal skin like it was butter. When the larger blond man threw him off the top, I thought he was a goner. The winner went inside and a few minutes later I saw a red beam of light and the blond man went flying through the air and crashed on a boat down below. I then saw the dark haired man fly up to these glowing, spinning metal rings where Liberty's Torch should be and land. There was a red beam of light again and the old man dressed in a purplish costume with a helmet and cape was hit and knocked down. The dark haired man cut the rings and rescues this teen-age girl with a skunk stripe in her dark hair. She looked like she was dead until he laid his hands on her and he then collapsed when she woke up. Then three other people, two women and one man, all dressed like the dark haired man in black leather, came rushing out of Liberty's head got the man and the girl and loaded up this fancy jet and flew away. They got away before harbor cops arrived. I sneaked aboard one of the boats and headed back to the city.

When I got home and shifted back to human, I pulled the disc out of the camcorder and stuck it in my laptop to see what I got. I got nothing except for static. I found out later that something magnetic had messed up the recording.

Of all the rotten luck, here I had a great story but no proof.

Several days later when I got in touch with my sources at Police One, I found out that the old man was this super mutant villain known as Magneto and the blond man was Sabertooth. The others dressed in black leathers were the X-Men and the dark haired man was Wolverine. Well that explained the magnetic interference that messed up my disc.

I know I would like to run across him sometime and get to know him better even though he is not a shapeshifter and my parents may disapprove of a mutant. But I don't care what they think, it might be fun to know a non-shifter but who would understand the need for secrets. I'll have to keep on the lookout for this Wolverine and introduce myself. Maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

The Cat The Cat

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns the X-world and all those who are members of that world. DC owns the DC world and all those who are in it. Crossovers are fun and I might do more that just a mention or two of different characters in each world. The Cat is mine. This is just for fun not for profit so no harm, no foul._

_Time wise this story is a mix of the comic book world and the movie world and takes place just after X-men 2 but before X-men 3. Instead of being years between the movies it is a compression of time into days, weeks and months of the comic world._

Chapter 2: The Meeting

Several months have gone by and here I am prowling around Hell's Kitchen trying to chase down the hero known as Daredevil. One of the papers I sell to wants to get the low down on him. I am not sure about outing this hero as he does do a good job at protecting the common janes and joes of the area. The cops don't or won't, they are too busy protecting the richie riches of the city. It's been a really slow night; everyone's sticking close to home, as it is so hot. The high today was 105 degrees and tonight's temp is not much lower. I don't know why I am even out here, it is way too hot for a fur coat but I need a paycheck so the prowl goes on.

I decided that I needed something cool to drink so in an alley near a bar I shift to human. It is wonderful how my fur becomes my clothes so I do have to worry about carting along a change of clothes. It's magic of course, that is what my kind are. As a woman, I'm not a great beauty; I am just average in height and shape. My eyes are golden brown and my hair is chestnut brown and a bit on the curly side. But when I walked into that bar, or should I say, dive, almost every male head turned and looked at me.

It was apparent that I was really slumming it. I shook off the creepy crawly feeling that went up my spine and headed for the first empty stool at the bar.

As I sat down the bartender came over. "What do you want?"

Before I could answer, this scumbag came over and sat down beside me. "Give her one of your specials, Billy Boy."

I stared at him and said, "I don't think so! Give me a bottled beer, a nice cold…"

The scumbag put his arm around my shoulders, "Come on girlie, you'll like Billy Boy's specials!"

A deep voice growled behind me and said, "Bill, give her a Molson Gold and if I were you, Bud, I would remove your arm from around the lady's shoulders before the beer arrives."

I look in the mirror and there he was The Wolverine, Logan. Even more impressive in just a tee shirt and jeans, than in those X-men leathers. The scumbag removed his arm and backed away. He held up both hands and said, "Sorry, Logan! I didn't know she's yours." He left the bar with a quick glance over his shoulder as he went out the door.

The beer arrived and was nice and cold. Logan had one in his hand and sat down beside me. He looked at me and took a swig of his beer and I took a slip of mine. The Canadian beer was good. "Thanks, I have never had beer before. It's good. And thanks for getting rid of that guy, it wasn't necessary, I can take care of my self."

Logan looked at me and smiled, "I'm sure you think you could but it is really too hot out there to prove it, don't ya think." He finished his beer and fished out a twenty out of his jeans' pocket and put it on the bar next to the empty bottle. "Hey Bill, the lady's beer is on me. And when she is ready to go, make sure you call her a cab so she can get home."

"Will do Logan."

Logan stood and headed out the door. I quickly finished my beer and started to follow him. The bartender shouted, "Hey Lady, Wait! Let me call you a cab."

I looked back at him. "Thanks, but no thanks, I got it covered."

"It's your neck, Lady, not mine."

And out the door I went. I saw Logan up ahead and I ducked into the alley and shifted to the Maine-Coon Cat and followed him. He went into an apartment building a couple of blocks from the bar. I ghosted though the entry door before it shut and followed him up several flights of stairs before he went down a hall to a door. He stopped and looked around, he knew he was being followed. I stopped and froze in the shadows of the landing.

He spotted me and grinned, "Well, hello cat."

I cat-walked over to him and rubbed my body against his lower legs. Oh, what a hussy I am, but it worked. He opened the door and I went in and jumped up on the couch. He sat down in a recliner in front of a TV and turned it on.

"Make yourself at home, cat. Behave yourself – no messes. OK?"

I meowed at him and curled up to take a catnap. The next thing I knew it was morning and Logan was up and cooking some bacon and eggs and boy did it smell good. I went over to him and begged. He looked down and grinned.

"Well Cat, I don't have any cat food but I'm sure that you will eat anything I give you." He put some of the eggs on a plate and crumbled some bacon over the eggs and set it down on the floor. He then got out a bowl and put some water in it and set it down next to the plate. I chowed down and drank some water. He sat down in his chair in front of the TV and turned on the morning news.

I went into the bathroom and took care of some business, as a cat I am toilet trained, don't need a litter box. I think I surprised Logan, when he heard the toilet flushed. As I trotted out and he looked at me as I jumped up into his lap. He picked me up and sniffed at me and looked at me. "I wonder?"

He laughed and put me back down in his lap and petted me. I gave out a really good purr and made dough with my front paws. Oh, this was so good, I thought about shifting right there and giving this hunk of a man a really great surprise. But then the TV had to interrupt this idea with breaking news. There was a man holding a woman hostage down in the business district in an open plaza between several of the buildings. The police hostage team and S.W.A.T were there trying to save the woman.

The reporter on the TV was saying that Spiderman was across the city helping the fire department with a major fire. This was not a good day for heroes to help, as it seems like something was going on all over the city. The camera crew did a close up of the man and the woman hostage. Oh crap, it's Sally, one of my neighbor in my apartment building. I jump out of Logan's lap and ran to the window. There was a fire escape so I clawed at the window until Logan got up and raised the window.

"Got someplace you have to be in a hurry, cat?" I meowed and rubbed my head against his hand. Then took off leaping down the fire escape. Once I reached the alley I looked back to make sure he was not looking and shifted to human.

I caught a cab at the corner and had it drop me off a couple of blocks from were the action was taking place. I shifted to a small gray tabby cat and headed across the plaza toward the pair. I spotted a planter with a great view of the action so I dropped my camcorder there to film the action.

I headed toward them and the man paid no attention to me. As I was behind him, I slowly shifted to Bast and then with my cat clawed hands grabbed the gun while roaring like a lion at the same time. The man let go of Sally and she ran toward the police line. I knocked him down on to the ground and held him there by shifting to the Bengal.

The police came running up and stopped right before me. I spoke as a woman while as the Bengal that it was all right to come and get him. As they grab him and while they handcuffed him, I shifted back to the tabby and ran off. I stopped by the planter where I had dropped the camcorder on my necklace and picked it back up. As I rounded the corner I shifted to human and headed back to my apartment to I see what I had filmed.

It was really good so I emailed the video to my favorite local TV news stations.

Later on that day all the news stations were talking about the newest superhero. One station was calling me Cat Woman. Now that really made me mad, I used one of my pre-paid cells and called them up. I told them in no uncertain terms that Cat Woman was not a feline shapeshifter, but was a jewel thief from Gotham City and to please not to confuse me with her. If they had to call me anything they were to call me The Cat.

I turned then turned my story in to my favorite paper with a few still shots and told them that I was lucky to be there at the same time that this was going on. The Boss said I got the best picture of The Cat in her Bast form and to look for a surprise in my next paycheck.

A week later, I found that I got a really nice bonus in my paycheck. I though the paper would stop wanting to lowdown on the Daredevil but no, they still want that story unless I can find something different. So, I will still prowl around Hell's Kitchen. As I know that Logan has an apartment there, I'll keep checking to see if he is home. I want to get to know him better and not just as a cat.


End file.
